April 12, 1996
Mr. Jack W. Garison
Executive Director
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
P.O. Box 12157
Austin, Texas 78711
Letter Opinion No. 96-040
Re: Authority of the Department of
Licensing and Regulation to license
and regulate martial arts promotions
and events (ID# 36630)
Dear Mr. Garison:
You have asked us whether the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
has authority under article 8501-1, V.T.C.S., the Texas Boxing and Wrestling Act, to
regulate certain martial arts promotions and events to which you refer as “activit[ies]
pursued for money, in a ring, involving the wearing of gloves and striking of blows
against an opponent with fists.” Your question is whether you have jurisdiction “to
license and regulate professional martial arts events and promotions that, while not within
the traditional definition of boxing or kickboxing, include elements of those sports.”
We believe that you do have such authority. As you point out, article 8501-1 does
not define boxing as such, but rather declares:
“Boxing” includes kickboxing, a form of boxing in which blows
are delivered with any part of the arm below the shoulder, including
the hand, and any part of the leg below the hip, including the foot.
V.T.C.S. art. 8501-1, § 3(6). While the section does not contain a legislative definition of
boxing, it does contain a definition by the legislature of kickboxing, which definition is
for our purposes controlling.
Since boxing itself is not defined, we are charged to interpret it according to its
natural, ordinary, or popular meaning. 67 TEX. JUR. 3D Statutes § 100 (1989). Webster’s
Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines boxing as “the art of attack and defense with the
fists practiced as a sport.” WEBSTER’S NINTH NEW COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY 173 (1990).
We believe that that definition, coupled with the legislature’s definition of kickboxing
already set forth, gives you sufficient authority to license and regulate a sporting
exhibition in which, as a matter of course, persons exchange blows with hands, arms,
feet, or legs. Such in our view is the necessary implication of the statutory definition of
“kickboxing.”
We are particularly disposed to view the matter in this light when we consider
section 2 of article 8501-1, which enjoins us to construe the statute liberally:
It is the legislature’s intent to improve the general welfare and
safety of the citizens of this state. The legislature finds that the
boxing industry in this state should be regulated in order to protect
the best interest of both contestants and the public, and it is the
responsibility of the state to provide for the protection of the
contestants and the public through the imposition of certain
regulations on the boxing industry. . . . Accordingly, this Act shall
be liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying policies
and purposes.
We think it most likely that a court faced with the question of whether the
Department of Licensing and Regulation had authority over a commercial sporting
exhibition in which combatants struck each other physical blows with hands and feet
would conclude that a liberal construction of the Boxing and Wresting Act in keeping
with the policies and purposes of the act required an affirmative answer to that question.
Accordingly, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has jurisdiction under
the Texas Boxing and Wrestling Act, article 8501-1, V.T.C.S., over sporting exhibitions,
however styled, in which, as a matter of course, contestants exchange blows with the
arms, legs, hands, or feet.
S U M M A R Y
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has
jurisdiction under the Texas Boxing and Wrestling Act, article
8501-1, V.T.C.S., over sporting exhibitions, however styled, in
which as a matter of course contestants exchange blows with the
arms, legs, hands, or feet.
Yours very truly,
James E. Tourtelott
Assistant Attorney General
Opinion Committee
Mr. Jack W. Garison - Page 2